Growth Chart

 It's been so long since I wrote one of these! The kids kinda dressed up on Friday for crazy sock day (for a special week at school when they get to wear crazy hair dos and crazy socks and such) and they looked cute enough to me that I asked them to stand by the growth chart, and I marked their height. I should say that they are actually a bit taller than this, since it is not hung up correctly (it's a bit high) but really this whole thing is just to mark their development and all that, so I think it doesn't matter, which is why I've not moved it (and to keep the variations at a minimum). For the record, I also marked them back in June or July, but didn't ever take their picture! I don't know why! Anyway... here we go... My little ones who are not at all so little any more.

Mr E is 7, about to be 8 in December! He still loves all things DINOSAURS and is very very silly. He loves to read and write, and in fact bought himself a diary with a lock that he likes to write in about his day (and sometimes he even reads it to me or his dad). He recently tested into the Gifted and Talented program at his school, and will also be an Elf at his school's Christmas play, so we're very excited for school these days. He likes playing games on his tablet, which I haven't yet put a stop to, despite all my objections, because now that school is in full swing, he barely has time for it anyways. He also likes to watch hamster maze videos on YouTube. He has a top hat bought specifically at his request so that he could be "British" he says, but really a very good version of a dandy in my opinion. He wears his  3 piece suit with it, and his shoes, and his umbrella, and of course, he walks with flair. He even has a cape. He also enjoys origami, magic tricks, and jokes- especially the super silly kind, which he calls "dad jokes" because the first time he ever heard of jokes was through his dad. He looks so much like his dad! I love love that. I also love that his every day clothes are all dinosaur because everything matches and he can just dress himself without my worrying about it - for the most part. He does ask me to accompany him while he showers or to help him dress (even though he totally doesn't need the help!) and has started a tradition of playing a game of would you rather or a game of I spy while they shower and one of the parents is sitting around just being their company while they get ready. He also takes lunch to school every day, so I still do that for him, too. I just finished my last private tutoring class with one of my students, so I was able to eat lunch with him at school the other day, and it was so nice! Miss E is too big for me -she was too big and too popular to want my visits even when she was in second grade- and I know he is also one of the cool guys in his class, so I am so glad to still be wanted. I am a bit nervous about their growing up, aren't I? I'm starting to notice a pattern here, in my own writing... But anyway, it is something he and I have, and I take him a personal pizza, and we sit and talk and just have a one on one time, and it is so great. I love that schools allow this in the States, it is completely unheard of in Mexico (at least to my knowledge). I love love their school.

 

Miss E is 10! She just had her birthday in October. She loves space and is planning to do Space Camp in the summer. She is the reason for our occasional night trips to the outskirts of town to watch the sky with the telescope. Behold, her Target solar system shirt that he wears at least once a week. And those leggings? They are mine. It's official: we are now sharing clothes. She still asks me to braid her hair every once in a while, but is other than that pretty independent when getting ready. One kid down, but I still have the baby. Heheheh! And they both still come to our bed in the middle of the night. Despite all my very vocal protests, again I say, I know I will miss that when it's over, so I am writing it here for posterity. Miss E is still very much into Girl Scouts, which I very much enjoy because it is something we can do together, and has also started Volleyball practices twice a week, which is going to make both GS and church youth a bit tricky but we will manage. She also loves to ride her bike and read books and write in her diary, which she bought during our trip to Claire's so she could get her ears pierced for the second time (yes, our vacationing and swim class complicated things the first time around). She also got her second invitation to the Gifted and Talented program. Her first was back in second grade, but I think we didn't fill out the paperwork back then because I didn't want her to stress out about keeping up or making school about performance- so we didn't go for it back then. She was invited again this year when we put the kidoes back in school after a year of Covid-induced school freedom, and since they were both very vocal about wanting to do it, we went for it this time. So far it seems to be stress free and enjoyable to her and the little brother, so maybe it's not so bad. Q says it will look good on their record. Here she is in her long sweater that I got for her when she said she liked my own long sweaters (so cozy!) She is so much her own person now. She has her own style and opinions and is not afraid to state them freely and happily. I love that about her.

And here is a close up -or four- of the chart as it is now... crazy how much they both grew in just a few months. This is also the first time that Mr E is taller than Miss E at a certain age (though again, the chart is off from being moved from house to house, so it might have happened earlier and it didn't show before because the chart is higher than it should be)